SmartCharging
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ELVIIS Volvo C30 EV charges from any standard outlet, bills the driver (hands-on)
The electric vehicle is still a fresh enough concept that the issue of redirecting the bill when filling up at a public outlet or a friend's house is of little concern. But once EVs gain more traction and the cost of electricity during that monthly dinner party starts to run upwards of 50 bucks, you'll definitely take notice. ELVIIS, a research collaboration between Ericsson and the Viktoria Institute in Sweden, may be the solution. Instead of pulling power from the grid blindly and billing the outlet's owner, the system provides driver and vehicle information to a server before charging begins, then redirects the cost for power consumed to whatever account you've registered with the vehicle, alleviating any concern about unexpected electricity bills. ELVIIS can theoretically serve other purposes, allowing you to select the least-expensive energy source, for example, or set the car to wait to charge until late-night, when rates are lower.We jumped into the passenger seat of one of five existing ELVIIS cars -- built around an all-electric Volvo C30 -- and poked around the charging interface. The project isn't fully operational just yet, and was running in demo mode so there's no way to verify that it works as described, but it definitely appears to be solid, with Ericsson providing financial and development support. Eventually, it will use the car's GPS to identify nearby power outlets -- for now, you need to enter a specific outlet ID. There's also an Android app that allows you to monitor and reschedule charging, so if you programmed your car to be completely charged by 7AM but realized that you need to leave at 6, you can make sure you're covered without getting out of bed. But you don't need to go anywhere to see it in action -- just click on past the break.
Microsoft and Toyota to partner on smarter charging systems for EVs (update: yes)
Today at 3:00pm EST Microsoft and Toyota are holding a little webcast and, while they're staying mum on just what the topic of discussion will be, we're hearing they've been having some heart-to-hearts about making dumb power grids a little smarter. The details naturally are yet to be unveiled, but we're presuming it'll be similar to what Microsoft and Ford have worked on for the Focus Electric, technology that enables the car to know when rates are cheapest and only charge up then, also providing detailed data on the car's power consumption. The Tesla-powered RAV4 EV will be Toyota's first pure electric vehicle, and while it surely won't be as invigorating to drive as the similarly Tesla-powered Roadster, thanks to Microsoft maybe it'll be a little smarter. It'll certainly be cheaper. Update: Sure enough. Toyota and Microsoft have announced a ¥1 billion (about $12 million) deal to extend Microsoft's telematics wizardry (which powers Toyota's Entune system, among many others) to help "link people, automobiles and homes for integrated control of energy consumption." Interestingly it's all going to be built on Azure, Microsoft's cloud operating system that, apparently, works in cars as well. That and lots more PR speak after the break.
Google working to make electric vehicles charge more efficiently
The idea to make plug-in electric vehicles charge more efficiently and reduce strain on the grid is hardly a new one, but it looks like none other than Google thinks it can do things better, and it's now reportedly doing some "preliminary work" in the area. As you might expect with all things "Google" and "preliminary," however, there's virtually a complete lack of details at the moment, with the company's director of Climate Change and Energy Initiatives, Dan Reicher, only going so far as to say that it has "done a little bit of work on the software side looking at how you would write a computer code to manage this sort of charging infrastructure." As Reuters notes, however, this isn't the first time Google has dabbled in the electric vehicle waters, with it previously forming a partnership with Toyota and Ford back in 2007 to test some gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles converted into plug-ins that run mostly on electricity, which Google says it has been testing "pretty intensely" over the last few years.
